Introduction

In 1996 Congress adopted the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As part of the Act, Congress called for regulations promoting administrative simplification of healthcare transactions as well as regulations ensuring the privacy and security of patient information. The Department of Health and Human Services has since adopted regulations to implement these goals. The Final Omnibus Rule modifications took effect in September 2013. The regulations apply to "covered entities" which include health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and health care providers who transmit health information in electronic form in connection with a transaction covered by HIPAA. The City of Lincoln has designated itself as a "hybrid entity" under the Act because it has both non-covered components and covered components. The regulations include three distinct parts: transaction standards, privacy, and security.